What safety measures are used for my senior dog's anesthesia?

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Most vets today will use a "pre-med" (combination of a pain medication and a sedative) which is often a mix of an opioid and a sedative (often hydromorphone and acepromazine, or some mix of this sort), then an "induction agent" which is usually either propofol, alfaxan, ketamine/diazepam, or ketamine/midazolam, and then will use a gaseous inhalent which is pretty much always isoflurane. Any of these drugs are fine, and often the drug that is best is the drug that your vet is most comfortable using. Thiopental is an 'old school drug' which is less favoured compared to these newer drugs, however it can be used completely safely as well. Doing pre-anaesthetic bloodwork will reduce the risks involved by making sure there is no organ dysfunction prior to surgery. I would suggest just asking your vet how the procedure works, and would check about if IV fluids will be used, what monitoring is present, as the monitoring is probably the most important part of a safe anesthetic, more-so than the type of drug that is used. Best of luck with Lucy!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. If it is possible, I would recommend having the x-rays done without sedation and depending on how the x-rays look and how her blood work looks, consider removal of the mass under anesthesia. She is not too old for anesthesia but the risk of anesthetic complications rises with age. As long as her heart, lungs and blood work are normal, she should be fine under anesthesia. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

This sounds like a good recommendation from your vet. The goal will be to keep your dog under anesthesia for the shortest possible time using anesthesia drugs that are gentle to the kidneys and liver. 24hrs of IV fluids after anesthesia can help his body to eliminate the anesthesia more quickly and support the circulation to his internal organs.

The answer to your questions depend on the health status of the dog and the procedure needed to be done. If the dog is in a good health status, either anesthetic can be fine, even for senior dogs. Only your vet can make the risk assessment for anesthesia.

I recommend to discuss your concerns with your veterinarian. In general, pets should have their heart rate, their breathing rate, temperature and their blood pressure monitored at all times. Oscar should also have blood work ran before the procedure and make sure he has IV fluids as well. These are the best things you can provide to help ensure a safe procedure (though keep in mind there is always some risk, just like humans). I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I personally don't think age is a major risk factor for anesthesia. Most of the problems or deaths under anesthesia are unpredictable and can happen to any age. Doing blood work and checking for any underlying issues like a heart murmur before surgery is great. Anesthesia is monitored closely by the veterinary nurses: blood pressure, oxygen levels, EKG, animals are intubated and are on oxygen and on IV fluids. There are health risks to leaving diseased teeth in the mouth as well. Overall if Angel is a healthy senior I think she will do fine! Good luck!

This is a good question! Any anesthesia has risks, and there can be increased risk in elderly dogs because their organs aren't functioning as well as they used to function. That said, however, your vet would not put your dog through anesthesia if they thought it was too great a risk. You can request your vet to run a geriatric blood panel to see how his organs are functioning to get a better idea of the risk of anesthesia. If he needs a tooth pulled, having it out will make him feel much better and I do recommend having it done if your vet thinks it's safe to do.